Lentil Soup With Lemon Yogurt Cream

As long as I can remember I have been a fan of lentil soup.

When I was younger I would heat up a can of Progresso, cook pasta shells in it, and then proceed to dump at least a quarter-bottle of grated Parmesan into the mix. This is not an exaggeration. You know how the bottle has two settings? One of them is the sensible trio of holes that will simply dust your food with a socially acceptable amount of cheese, the other is one gaping hole that is intended for quick and sudden evacuation for large amounts of cheese. I used the gaping hole side. This dish is what my Italian father dubbed “Pasta Fazool.” It was simple and tasty and I am sure that our Great Italian Grandmother is rolling over in her grave somewhere at the thought of us using canned soup and buckets of pre-grated Parm.

For a long time this satisfied me. Opening up cans, dumping the contents, saturating the finished product with buckets of gritty cheese. This got me through most of college… along with a suspicious amount of turkey sandwiches and vodka. Then, one year I got bit by the soup bug. I am sure this was during the first year that I started teaching. I was constantly sick. I started making soup from scratch and it was a revelation. I experimented with everything from chicken noodle, beef stew, chicken and rice, spicy sausage soup with spinach and of course lentil. […]

Baked Beef & Red Wine Stew

So, I’ve been having a love affair. No, love affair sounds cheap and fleeting.  Hmm…

Ok, I have been having a full on committed relationship.

With Beef.

Most of my friends know this about me.  When asked my favorite breakfast I will almost always say “Steak and Eggs…hold the eggs.”  I’m the girl that doesn’t even have to reheat leftover steak. I will go National Geographic on a T-bone at 8am.

Steak and I don’t  see each other that often anymore. I’ve been having this thing on the side with kale and some late nights with re-fried black beans and their hussy friends, the corn tortillas.  Oh, and Green Juice. That has been getting hot and heavy.

But when steak and I get together, magic happens. […]

Tomato, Chard & Butter Bean Stew

Good Morning, Friends!

It’s cold out…am I right?  It’s damp. It’s cat-boots and fleece sweatpants weather. It’s “I don’t feel like going outside but would rather watch a whole marathon of Christopher Guest movies” weather.  Best in Show, anyone? Don’t mind if I do.

I am most likely just a complainer. I live in the San Francisco Bay area. We like to complain when it gets cold. I understand that we are merely sissies. It isn’t snowing here. I do not own a completely waterproof coat. My sheets aren’t flannel. I rarely have to chip ice off of my car windows before starting it in the mornings. I get it. Total weather sissy. I will try to put on my big girl sweatpants and remember that there are people out there (maybe you) who actually get snowed-in. Do you own a pair of flannel lined jeans? Mukluks? I’m sorry, friend. You need hot cocoa more than I do. I hope you stocked up. […]

Curried Delicata And Sweet Potato Bisque

Let me be straight with you.

This recipe was created for the sole purpose of using my brand new immersion blender.

I had a very domestic birthday. I received a sewing machine (note: I totally sewed that place mat you see there. The hems are ALMOST straight. Pretty much a professional.) a three piece cupcake carrier, an immersion blender, tart pans, ramekins and a collection of amazing cooking and food styling books. (Oh, and a hangover. We will get to that in another post. Coming to you soon.)  Serious jackpot. I had never used an immersion blender before, but knew it was something that I wanted to try.  Who likes to puree their soups two cups at a time in a semi functional blender?  Not this girl.  I’ve scalded myself multiple times.  I have hot soup battle scars. I can be kind of a hot mess. My parents always said, “there’s a reason we didn’t name you Grace.”  I would like to say that comment is rude, but it is just ever so true. Darn it. […]